Parrying: Face Enemies Or Not?

I know what you are getting at, but it's misleading, since it's irrelevant where your character is actually facing.

The same as what I rephrased about Bayonetta.

Compared to the former examples, the latter doesn't require you to tilt the analog stick or face your character towards the direction of the attack.---There is no such thing as a "Quick Time Event done right". A game that has Quick Time Events is a "video game done wrong".